


Suffer Little Children

by Lothiriel84



Series: And after all this time [5]
Category: MarsCorp (Podcast)
Genre: Drinking, Foreshadowing, Gen, Grooming, Pre-Canon, Secret Crush, The Author Regrets Everything, creepy old men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 22:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15672447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lothiriel84/pseuds/Lothiriel84
Summary: Dig a shallow graveAnd I'll lay me down





	Suffer Little Children

“It’s not – it’s not fair, buddy, I tell you. This, this _love_ malarkey – it’s just for losers, amirite? I’ve got stuff to do, places to be – don’t have no time for this nonsense.”

He shook his head and sighed, stumbling a little under the weight of his friend’s arm bearing down on his shoulders. “You’re not in love, Colin, you’re just drunk,” he stated, matter-of-factly, his words immediately met by a fresh bout of giggling.

“Drunk with _lurve_ , that’s what those idiots would say. Col, they’d say, you should know better that to fall for – for someone who’s not even – never mind,” he trailed off abruptly, stopping dead in his tracks. “You came for me – I was thinking of you, and here you are now. How the hell did you do that?”

He sighed again. “Angelica called me, she said I’d better come and collect you.”

“Hmm, clever girl,” Colin nodded, approvingly. His grin had changed now, distantly reminiscent of that peculiar look on Mr Kingsley’s face whenever he made one of those jokes that only adults would get, much to David’s confusion.

All of a sudden, he was reminded of the way Mr Chamberlain had been groping at Colin’s dinner jacket, how his friend had snapped and called him a creepy old pervert, right before he and Angelica had stepped in. Thank the Shareholders David’s parents were not at the party, for he would have hated for his best friend to make a scene right in front of them; it had taken plenty of coaxing on his part, but in the end he had managed to drag Colin away from the party hall, and to the relative quiet of the otherwise deserted corridors.

“Come on, we can’t stay here all night,” he tried again, anxiety and worry more than a little evident in his voice. “We need to get back to your room.”

“I say, David, I wouldn’t have expected that from you.”

He blinked, perplexed, and thought it best to let it slide. His friend was acting all weird tonight, but he knew it was the alcohol talking there, so it probably didn’t matter.

Once more, he spared a grateful thought to the Shareholders that somewhere among all the seemingly useless heaps of information his brain insisted on hoarding, there was the security code for Colin’s personal quarters here at the Mine. With a strength born of desperation, he managed to punch in the code while simultaneously pivoting his friend’s body towards the door, and finally, finally into the room.

 _What would have happened if I hadn’t dragged you away?_ he thought, but didn’t ask. He didn’t want to dwell on Angelica’s hints about Shareholders knew what weird stuff was going on at her father’s parties, guests drinking lots of alcohol and making bizarre guttural noises all night long, and the broken furniture left hanging around the morning after.

He focussed on searching for a clean glass, and filling it with water instead; he handed it to his friend who was now sprawled somewhat inelegantly on the sofa, half giggling, half singing a tune to himself.

“What is it that you want me to drink, hmm? A cocktail of your own invention?”

“Dihydrogen monoxide,” he shrugged, somewhat tiredly. “I’m sure you’ve heard of it before.”

Colin chuckled, reaching for the glass. “I love it when you talk all science-y, buddy. Cheers.”

“You think you can manage on your own? I should really go back now, I’ll be grounded for the rest of forever if my parents find out I sneaked out of quarters without permission at this hour of the night.”

His friend stared at the now empty glass for a seemingly endless moment, his gaze unfocussed and suddenly wistful. “Love’s stupid,” he announced, solemnly, holding his arms out to David. “Stay here a little bit, will you?”

Torn, he looked between Colin and the door, realised he was going to be in trouble either way, instinctively edged towards his friend’s welcoming arms.

“Hmm, good boy,” Colin murmured into his hair as he settled against his side, his head resting on his friend’s chest.

A moment later he was asleep, his soft snore the only sound David could hear in the stillness of the room. He sighed, closed his eyes, and let himself doze off like a small child in the warm safety of a loving mother’s embrace.


End file.
